The Ice Storm (1997)

Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, based on a book by Rick Moody, does for the 70s what The Big Chill and Grand Canyon did for the 80s and 90s - present middleclass America in a moment, here an era of nuclear families contending with post-Vietnam War sexual liberation - and while the movie might have benefitted from a few more laughs as 70s upheaval is paraded in the form of packaging peanuts, Jesus Christ Superstar, est training and key parties, the sombre drama is redeemed by affecting endscenes suggesting the inexorable thaw and moving forwards of Time...and along the way compelling evidence is provided that Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood are not, in fact, the same person.

★★★☆☆

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The Great Gatsby (2013)

The camera sweeps around, never stopping for longer than two seconds, in Baz Luhrmann's overwrought, overthought adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, with the heart of the novel buried in too much of Bazzle's razzle-dazzle and, with the exception of Leonardo DiCaprio, the cast lacks gravitas, coming across like high school kids playing dress-ups.

★★☆☆☆

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Spider-Man (2002)

Unusual casting choices (Tobey McGuire in the title role and Kirsten Dunst as his love interest) pay off in this hugely successful blockbuster treatment of the Marvel superhero comicbook character, one made before the incredible superhero glut of more recent times.

★★★★☆

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